A slave from outer space escapes to earth. Except for his three-toed feet, he looks like an ordinary young black man. He crash-lands on Ellis Island, appropriately enough, and ends up in Harlem. There he makes friends with the owner and the regulars of a bar. Because he can fix any machine (by simply touching it), he’s able to make money. He’s mute, which proves more of an advantage than a disadvantage. And he can heal himself and others with nothing but his hands. His real troubles begin when two extraterrestrial bounty hunters attempt to recapture him and bring him back to where he came from.

The Brother from Another Planet (1984)
  • Rating: (2,985 votes)
  • Taglines:Welcome to a world of crude beauty... of danger and excitement... of wonders, legend, and imagination... Welcome to Harlem, Brother. » He's not just another out-of-towner. »
  • Runtime:108 minutes
  • Director: John Sayles
  • Country:USA
  • Actors:
    The Brother
    Joe Morton
    West Indian Woman
    Rosanna Carter
    Hispanic Man
    Ray Ramirez
    Haitian Man
    Yves Rene
    Islamic Man
    Peter Richardson
    Korean Shopkeeper
    Ginny Yang
    Fly
    Daryl Edwards
    Odell
    Steve James
    Smokey
    Leonard Jackson
    Walter
    Bill Cobbs
  • Genres:Comedy, Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
  • Producers:
    Peggy Rajski
    producer  
    Maggie Renzi
    producer  
  • Plots: The Brother is an alien who has crash-landed on Earth, in New York City. While mute, strongly empathic, and able to fix things, he resembles a Black man with strange feet. His attempt to make a place for himself in Harlem is an allegory for the immigrant experience in the United States. Meanwhile, two bounty hunters from the Brother's home planet arrive and try to capture him. Written by Reid Gagle
The Brother from Another Planet
  • User's comment:Typical Sayles by k4man123

    What I love about Sayles is that he never forgets that first and foremost, movies should tell stories.

    This one is a real gem in the rough. It has the irreverence and SciFi conventions of Barry Sonnenfeld's MIB but with social commentary instead of a budget. Also, instead of merely clever comments on NYC life, Sayles shows his characteristic political side by highlighting little tableaux of real life. Slipping in the Harriet Tubman subplot was pure Sayles.

    I especially loved his usage of music and the chemistry of the barroom regulars. That fight with the MIB was a hoot! Sayles, a Corman vet, knows that special effects shouldn't be used for the sake of having them.


  • Quotes: Fly: (about Harlem) I'd rather be a cockroach on a baseboard up here than the Emperor of Mississippi. Card Trickster: I have another magic trick for you. Wanna see me make all the white people disappear? Card Trickster: See, what'd I tell ya?
  • Also known as: Apo allon planiti (Greece - transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title), Brat z innej planety (Poland), Brother (France - imdb display title), Der Typ vom anderen Stern (West Germany), El hermano de otro planeta (Spain), Fratello di un altro pianeta (Italy), Muukalainen Harlemissa (Finland), Testvér egy idegen bolygóról (Hungary - imdb display title), Um Irmão de Outro Planeta (Portugal),

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